CLERGYMAN’S ACTION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 157, 4 June 1937, Page 7

CLERGYMAN’S ACTION.

NO CONSENT GIVEN. LONDON, June 3. Received June 4, 8.5 a.m. The Daily Mail’s Tours correspondent says "that Rev. E. A. Cardew (Rural Dean in France), who is responsible to the Bishop of Fulham, says that directly he heard that Rev. Anderson Jardine went to France he telephoned the Bishop of Fulham, who explained that it had been made clear that the clergy of England must not take any part in the wedding. Mr Cardew said that lie had lent a Crucifix for use at the civil ceremony but in the changed circumstances he had requested its return as he could not appear to countenance a ceremony disapproved by his superiors. “The whole position is most embarrassing,” he said. “The Duke is an old friend of mine, but I’m compelled to act in ■ accordance with church discipline.” The news that Rev. Jardine had gone to France to perform the religious ceremony at the wedding of the Duke of Windsor and Miss Warfield came as a great surprise, not only to the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Cosmo Lang) but also to the Bishop of Fulham (Dr Basil Staunton Batty) under whose jurisdiction the Anglican Church in North and Central Europe comes. After a consultation between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Fulham, the following state ment was issued with the authority ol Dr Lang“lf it be true that Mi Jardine has undertaken to perforin a religious ceremony in connection with the marriage of the Duke of Windsor, the Bishop of Fulham wishes it to be understood that this action of an Anglican clergyman is taken without his knowledge or consent.” The ecclesiastical correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says that Mr Jardine’k action is entirely irregular. It is understood that the Bishop of Fulham telegraphed Mr Jardine protesting against his acting without episcopal license or consent. There is, however, no process of ecclesiastical law by which Mr Jardine can be restrained, and so the Bishop’s telegram took the form of a protest, not a prohibition.

“Mr Jardine’s position in the ceremony will be that of a private person who is invited to say the prayers,” the Telegraph correspondent adds. “He is incapable legally of solemnising the marriage.” When asked how he knew the Duke desired a religious ceremony and bow ho came to make his offer, Mr Jardine replied: “It seemed to me unthinkable that any member of the Royal Family could be married without a Church of England service.”